Muscle Pain After Exercise and How to Relieve It

Muscle pain after exercise is a common thing . While this is not dangerous, complaints sometimes lead to fears of serious injury.

Muscle pain after exercise is usually experienced by people who exercise after some time not doing it, have just increased the intensity of exercise, or try a new type of exercise.

In medical terms, muscle aches and stiffness that arise after exercise are called delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS. This muscle pain usually appears within 24-48 hours after exercising with a high enough intensity, such as jogging, aerobics, or lifting weights.

This condition can cause complaints of mild to severe muscle pain, muscle stiffness, aches, slight swelling of the muscles, and decreased muscle strength for a while. If the muscles are rested, complaints of pain and stiffness will usually improve faster.

Causes of Muscle Pain After Exercise

After physical activity or strenuous exercise, DOMS can occur when the body's muscle tissue tries to adapt to repair and increase muscle mass. This reaction is actually a normal thing to happen.

Although the exact mechanism is unknown, several studies have concluded that DOMS can result from:

• Lactic acid buildup as a result of muscle metabolism
• Minor injury to the muscle
• Damage to connective and muscle tissue
• Inflammation of the muscles
• Changes in electrolyte and enzyme levels in muscles

People who rarely warm up or don't warm up well before exercising have a high risk of experiencing DOMS.

Tips for Relieving Muscle Pain After Exercising

When DOMS happened, there were several things that could be done to alleviate this complaint, namely by:

1. Gentle massage

Mild and gentle massage in painful parts of the body has been shown to increase blood flow and stimulate nerves, thereby reducing pain and muscle swelling.

2. K cold or warm compress

If a new pain appears and there is a slight swelling in the muscles, you can compress it with a cold compress for 10-15 minutes. The trick, wrap the ice cubes in a cloth or towel, then stick to the muscles that are painful and swollen.

After the pain begins to subside and there is no swelling, you can speed up recovery with a warm compress for 10-15 minutes. A warm bath can also help relieve pain due to DOMS.

3. More rest

To help with muscle recovery, it is recommended that you sleep 8-9 hours a day and eat foods high in protein. Don't forget to drink enough water to avoid dehydration.

4. Using drugs

In addition to the above methods, taking drugs or applying pain medication medications, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), can also help relieve pain after exercise. This method can also be done on DOMS that already disrupt daily activities.

During recovery, you should avoid physical exercise that is too heavy and prolonged, until the pain begins to decrease. However, try to keep moving actively. You can do stretches or light exercise, for example walking around the house.

This method can help blood flow to the problematic muscles and stimulate the production of endorphins which can relieve pain.

To prevent the recurrence of DOMS, exercise regularly and don't drastically increase the intensity of the exercise. If you want to increase the intensity, do it gradually. Also, don't forget to warm up sufficiently before exercise and stretch or cool down afterwards.

Muscle Pain After Exercise to Watch Out for

DOMS is a normal reaction that is temporary, but this muscle pain must still be distinguished from a serious muscle injury. Immediately consult a doctor if there are severe complaints, such as:

• Unbearable pain.
• Severe muscle swelling.
• Muscles become difficult or cannot be moved at all after exercising.
• Change the color of urine to dark.
• Muscle pain does not decrease at all for more than a week.

If you experience these complaints after exercising, you should immediately consult a doctor to get further treatment.

Written by:

dr. Andi Marsa Nadhira

Label : Health cat_Health